title: Phenotyping soybean plants transformed with rd29A:AtDREB1A for drought tolerance in the greenhouse and field.
abstract: The development of drought tolerant plants is a high priority because the area suffering from drought is expected to increase in the future due to global warming. One strategy for the development of drought tolerance is to genetically engineer plants with transcription factors (TFs) that regulate the expression of several genes related to abiotic stress defense responses. This work assessed the performance of soybean plants overexpressing the TF DREB1A under drought conditions in the field and in the greenhouse. Drought was simulated in the greenhouse by progressively drying the soil of pot cultures of the P58 and P1142 lines. In the field, the performance of the P58 line and of 09D-0077, a cross between the cultivars BR16 and P58, was evaluated under four different water regimes: irrigation, natural drought (no irrigation) and water stress created using rain-out shelters in the vegetative or reproductive stages. Although the dehydration-responsive element-binding protein (DREB) plants did not outperform the cultivar BR16 in terms of yield, some yield components were increased when drought was introduced during the vegetative stage, such as the number of seeds, the number of pods with seeds and the total number of pods. The greenhouse data suggest that the higher survival rates of DREB plants are because of lower water use due to lower transpiration rates under well watered conditions. Further studies are needed to better characterize the soil and atmospheric conditions under which these plants may outperform the non-transformed parental plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Biology, Londrina State University, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445, Km 380, P.O. Box 6001, Londrina, 86051-990, Brazil, amandaaapr@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amanda Alves
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: de Paiva Rolla
authors.forename: Josirley
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Fátima Corrêa Carvalho
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fuganti-Pagliarini
authors.forename: Cibelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Engels
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: do Rio
authors.forename: Silvana Regina Rockenbach
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Marin
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Neves
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Magda A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Beneventi
authors.forename: Francismar Corrêa
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Marcelino-Guimarães
authors.forename: José Renato Bouças
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Farias
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Neumaier
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi-Shinozaki
authors.forename: Alexandre Lima
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Nepomuceno
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D013025:Glycine max / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C114578:DREB1A protein, Arabidopsis; C520629:RD29a protein, Arabidopsis; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014867:Water